Agritech Farmkart start-up to raise ₹90 crore from VCs for pan-Indian expansion

Recently, in one of the episodes of Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Patidar’s efforts to digitally connect farmers and deliver agricultural products to their doorsteps.

In addition, farmers can also rent modern farm equipment on the Farmkart e-commerce platform.

Patidar said the company has ties to major brands, both domestic and international, for its e-commerce platform.

“We are linked to almost all the major international and national brands of seeds, fertilizers, fungicides and pesticides. We have links for agricultural equipment and are looking to add more in this category,” he said. -he adds.

Agro-startup’s UIC (Unique Identity Code) is India’s first digital agronomist, a card with 9-digit identity, which helps a farmer select a product based on his farm profile .

UIC can be topped up with any amount to make online payments. To buy a product, a farmer just needs to enter this 9-digit code.

This nationwide expansion will involve adding more workforce, for which the company must recruit from business schools, Patidar said.

Currently we have 102 people working directly for us. Our expansion will require over 3,000 additional people in the areas of marketing, sales, software, business development, agronomy, and more. We will also need field sales professionals who can explain our product offerings. to farmers in a simple way, he said.

The company also provides students and villagers with additional income to make delivery to their own villages.

We connect with students or other villagers when they come to town for work and ask them to deliver ordered products to their village for a fee. This helps provide additional income for those people who would have visited the city anyway. In the future, we plan to expand this delivery model across the country, Patidar added.

The company is also developing a kiosk, which will look like an ATM, which will allow farmers to seamlessly order products on Farmkart’s electronic platform.

The prototype of this kiosk will be ready in two years. When it is ready, we plan to install them in Pan-Indian villages. This will make it easier for farmers to place their orders, Patidar added.